Hopelessness in the Kenyan youth: We can make a difference

Allow me to submit on the subject of hopelessness among the youth.

I must commend both the print and electronic media for the comprehensive coverage that has been done on various types of cancer over the past. It has not only enlightened the masses but also given strength to the victims and families of cancer sufferers. However, there is one form of cancer that is spreading so fast among the youth of Kenya and is reaching levels that are alarming for those who have been keen. This type of cancer however, can be cured and controlled much cheaply than the other types of cancer that we know of. Its treatment and control do not need a hospital or being flown out of the country but is available with everyone. I am referring to the cancer called ‘hopelessness’

Many youth in all parts of the country have been infected by hopelessness that is reaching a worrying level. A chat with college and university students will unearth the depth of hopelessness among the very students who are schooling to not only acquire knowledge in new frontiers but also to improve on various spheres of their lives and those of others around them. Many students have a cancer of hopelessness for finding jobs, for getting capital to start up their own businesses, of making it in life, of being better persons etc. This cancer is perpetrated mainly by them observing their peers who graduated earlier and have only ended up wasted by drugs, crime and immorality hence making them no longer believe that they will make it any better.

Back in the villages, the cancer is not any better; it has landed the youth in uncontrolled alcohol abuse, reckless sexual behaviours, suicides, abusive marriages etc. A visit to any village in the country brings one face to face with young people packed in the trading centers doing nothing with themselves but either begging for 50 shillings to use on drugs and alcohol or those who already got their 50 shillings earlier getting out of control due to the drugs and substance abuse. The situation among the youth of the country is becoming so bad that the hopelessness is infecting and neutralizing even those who had a little hope left. 

All members of the society need to get involved in curing this cancer because we all can; both collectively and individually.  We all have the antidote with us and we need to start administering it with urgency to the hopeless. This antidote is called ‘hope’. We may not have money to buy everyone lunch or clothes, we may not have enough room to shelter our youth, we may not have enough jobs to offer everyone, we may not have adequate capital to provide to young entrepreneurs, we may not have enough space in our vehicles to offer lift to those trekking to look for jobs or to work but we all have enough hope to not only keep us alive but also to infect the hopeless with so they can become hopeful again. Let us all go out of our way to make someone smile, to make someone believe in their potential, to make others feel useful and we shall make Kenya a better country where we can all wake up believing that we shall get back to sleep as better people. Let us spread hope without discrimination or fear for that is all that we can share to eliminate this cancer.

To the Managers, do not throw away job seekers with the ‘hakuna kazi’ notice; we can give them hope by listening to them and urging them on even without offering them a job. To the Producers and Broadcasters, do not throw away upcoming artistes because their names sound like some binomial nomenclature; we can give them hope by listening to their compositions and advising them on how and where to make improvements. To the Politicians, do not make the youth believe that using them in violence is a job; give them hope by initiating and sustaining self-help initiatives in your constituencies. To the youth, do not let one another sink to oblivion and be infected with the cancer of hopelessness; let us share the hope we have with one another. Do not believe that you must know somebody to make it in life or get a job but be assured that the only ‘somebody’ you need to know to make it in life or to an employment is yourself! All the youth need to discover themselves and work on their potential devoid of alcoholism, drug abuse, immorality and other vices.

This is my contribution to the antidote dose of hope on the cancer of ‘hopelessness’